STATE APPROVES SOLANA BEACH’S COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Move represents key
step in city having more
control over projects

SOLANA BEACH 
Solana Beach appears closer to having more control over development in its own city than it ever has before. But the power it has been seeking for 12 years is still likely a year or two away.

The California Coastal Commission, meeting in Chula Vista on Wednesday, voted unanimously to approve a Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan for Solana Beach. The all-encompassing plan, which took four hours to deliberate, directs development in the city, while maintaining public access to beaches. The plan allows the city to decide on most proposals instead of them going through the Coastal Commission, in addition to the city.

The commission, however, retains its original jurisdiction, which is west of the city’s most coastal roads, and north of several public streets closest to the San Elijo Lagoon, which borders the city to the north.

State law requires cities to develop Local Coastal Plans. The Solana Beach City Council is expected to discuss the document at a future meeting. If it approves the plan, Solana Beach will begin working on a Local Implementation Plan, which could take a year and must also be approved by the Coastal Commission. That document would show how the coastal plan would be put into effect.

Once that goes through, developers and Solana Beach residents should notice a change when they make proposals to the city. Essentially, every development that goes through the city now, including homes east of Interstate 5, must be approved by the City Council, and then the Coastal Commission, where guidelines differ. If the council passes the local coastal plan, only the most-coastal projects within the commission’s original jurisdiction also would go to the state. Ott said that going through only the city could cut project approval times in half, from more than a year for the most controversial proposals to a matter of months. He estimated the city has spent about $500,000 on its Local Coastal Program since 2006.

It took Solana Beach years to get this part of the plan approved because the city’s 1.4 mile coastline is dominated by homes and condominiums atop bluffs, many protected by sea walls. The county approved many of the developments before the city incorporated in 1986.

Sea walls are controversial because while they protect private property, they block erosion and cut off a source of sand for the beach. The Coastal Commission is asking the city to devise a fee within 18 months for sea-wall owners to help pay for maintaining the beaches. Owners now pay a one-time deposit of $1,000 per linear foot of sea wall.

Blufftop homeowners and environmentalists had negotiated a deal last year to remove the sea walls by 2081, but the Coastal Commission staffers opposed that. Instead, they decided to require sea wall permits be revisited every 20 years. Sea wall permits generally have to be justified by emergencies or proof of an impending threat to the property.

Jim Jaffee, of the Surfrider Foundation, said he was pleased with the commission’s decision regarding sea walls and the 18-month deadline to come up with fees for property owners.